The Apocalypse
by Brickc16
Summary: Johnny was just a normal kid when a zombie apocalypse started. he left his hometown just to be met by a stranger named Lou, who made him the Angel of Death. now he must find his Horsemen brothers to end the apocalypse.
1. The Pale Rider

Johnny was just a normal 16 year old in the small town of Raymond, New Hampshire. He had a girlfriend and a best friend. His girlfriend was 15, her name was Jen. His best friend was Natalie, whom he knew since 6th grade.

Johnny had been in school when the illness was first sighted. He was standing at his locker with Jen when there was a scream from behind them. Johnny turned to see his economics teacher, Mr. Maloney on top of a student. People were standing around with stunned and disgusted looks on their faces, but no one did anything.

Johnny ran up and pulled him off, he screamed, "Hey what are you doing?" Then he saw the eyes. So, lifeless... So dead... So... _hungry_.

The teacher charged at Johnny and Johnny took off his backpack and swung it. At that point he was glad his teachers had given him so much homework, because the blow from his backpack had knocked Maloney back and he hit the wall, his spine snapped and he was dead... or undead... or dead again? Johnny stood there for a moment, taking in the fact that he had just killed his economics teacher.

And just then there was a sort of gurgling noise, he turned around slowly to see the girl Maloney had attacked, she had the same eyes as him. He looked around and people had already started to run, he looked at Jen and grabbed her arm and dragged her with him. They met up with Natalie and dragged her with them. They ran downstairs and saw that more students had been infected.

"Johnny where are we going!" Natalie asked.

"I don't know and I don't care," Johnny said over his shoulder, "as long as its far away from here!"

The ran out into the parking lot, Johnny looked around for his 2004 Honda accord. They finally found it just as the infected students figured out how to open the doors to get outside. They got in the car and pulled out. They sped forward, taking several infected out along the way. They headed toward Route 101, they got on the highway and headed east toward Epping.

"Wait," Jen looked around, "Where are we going? What about our families?"

"Jen," Johnny said, "it's way too dangerous for us to look for our families, they may already be infected. The best thing for us to do is try and find safety somewhere else."

Jen looked like she was going to argue, then she seemed to realize Johnny was right, and she kept quiet. Johnny looked in his rear view mirror and saw that Natalie was crying. He looked back at the road. They were on their own now, no parents, no school, no law or order. Just Jen, Natalie, and himself on the road along with about 6 _billion_ undead freaks running around the earth.

* * *

They stopped off at a motel for the night, Johnny sat up while the girls slept. He had gone into Wal-mart before they left Epping and got a hunting rifle, ammo, an ax, and wine with cloths in them to make Molotov cocktails. There was a knock at the door, Johnny grabbed the ax and got up to answer the door.

"Who is it?" He called through the door.

"Room service!" came a voice on the other side of the door.

Johnny opened the door, and was immediately shot in the head. Johnny had been killed.

"Heh," the guy sneered, "I'll leave it to the morning guy," he looked up at the girls, "hey there girlies, who wants to be a slave?"

* * *

Johnny woke up in an all white room. He was lying on a white couch in a white long sleeve shirt with white dress pants. He sat up and looked around, he was completely alone. He but his head in his hands. Just then there was a voice.

"Well hello Johnny boy!" Johnny looked around to see a man sitting in a chair that wasn't there before. The man had brown hair and a goatee, with an all white suit on.

"Are you God?" Johnny asked.

"No, no I'm not God," the man said, grin still spread wide across his face. "You can call me Lou," he said with a wink.

"Lou... like... Louis?" Johnny asked, knowing instantly he was wrong.

"Sure!" Lou exclaimed, "Louis. Now lets get serious here. What would you say if I told you I could make you immortal?"

"I'd say what's the catch?" Johnny said, narrowing his eyes.

"No catch! Well, okay you would be Death." Lou said, still grinning.

"Death? You want _me_ a 16 year old kid, to be the angel of death? The grim reaper, the pale rider?"

"Yes, because you could put an end to this whole apocalypse thing!"

"Why would _you _want me to end the apocalypse? Isn't your life goal to end humanity and rule earth?"

"What's the point of trying to rule the earth if all your loyal subjects are brainless flesh-eating monsters? No, I want to end this apocalypse as much as you do my boy." The grin had been off Lou's face now, he was serious.

"So how can I end this?" Johnny asked Lou.

"Well, from what I know, the person who started it was one of your Horsemen brothers." Lou said, putting one leg over the other and sitting back, a drink appearing in his hand.

"Horsemen? What do you mean Horsemen?"

"Why, the four Horsemen of the apocalypse, of course!" Lou said, sipping his drink.

"Okay so, Death," Johnny said pointing to himself, "Who are the others?"

"There's War, Pestilence, and Famine." Lou explained.

"I'm assuming the person responsible is Pestilence?"

"You assume right my boy," Lou said with a wink. "Famine helped him out, but War doesn't see this too fun."

"So where do I find Pestilence?" Johnny asked.

"Well, here's the thing," Lou said, shifting awkwardly in his seat. "When the Death before you resigned he took the other Horsemen with him."

Johnny knew that by "resign" Lou meant Death had killed himself, taking War, Famine, and Pestilence along with him. But he still didn't understand why Lou couldn't tell him where they were.

Seeming to read his mind, Lou told Johnny, "You see when Death is killed, I may choose who takes his place. Unfortunately, when the others are killed the people who take their places are completely random. I only know what town they are in. I can give you this information, but after that you are on your own."

Lou snapped his fingers and the room dissipated

* * *

Johnny woke up on the floor where he had been shot. He could hear the voice of the slaver from behind him.

"Hehe, you girls will make excellent young slaves," he was in the process of tying the girls up.

Johnny got up, trying to figure out how to killed the slaver. Finally he figured he would wing it.

"Hey asshole," he said poking the guy on the shoulder. When he turned around he let out a yell.

"What the hell!" he shouted. "I killed you! I shot you square in the head!" he looked at where the bullet had hit Johnny, and saw no bullet hole. He looked at the gun he held in his hand, lifted it to Johnny's head and fired. Johnny smirked, he knew how to use his powers, it just lodged in his brain in place of the bullet. The slaver looked at Johnny and then where the bullet had hit Johnny appeared on his forehead instead, the man gave a gasp, and fell to the ground, dead.

"Johnny!" Jen shrieked. "What the..."

Johnny explained the whole conversation with Lou, about where they needed to go. Turned out they needed to head to Boston, where they would find the first Horseman.

* * *

The next morning they woke to and headed out to the car, only the Honda was no longer there, instead there was an old looking car. There was a note on the windshield and Johnny picked it up and read:

_Dear Johnny boy,_

_I figured that this would be a more suitable car for you to drive. Being the pale rider and _

_all I thought maybe a white 1960 Cadillac would_ _be a more stylish car. No need to thank _

_me, kiddo._

_Your oh so very good friend,_

_Lou._

_P.S. When you find the other Horsemen, let me know. Just say the word and I'll be there _

_lickity split._

The three friends all looked at each other and smiled. They then go into the Johnny's "horse" and pulled out and headed for Boston, Massachusetts, hoping to find the first of the Horsemen.


	2. The second Horseman: War

Mark was hiding in his room, he had shoved his computer desk against the door. His mother and father outside it, scratching at the door. He was a having a terrible day. First he failed his geography quiz and then he comes home to find his father biting at his mother, then they came for him! Plus he had been going through some changes... being only 14 he figured it was probably just puberty, but these changes were nothing like what his health teacher told them about. Every time he walked into a room everybody would start to argue. Sometimes they would even get violent and start fighting.

"Mom," He said, trying to keep the tears from falling, "Dad? If you guys are done trying to eat me I want to come out and get some snacks."

He opened his door slowly and when he walked into the hall he saw his mother and father attacking each other. He slipped past the two of them and went downstairs. He grabbed some Doritos and Fritos and went back up to his room, he put his desk back in front of his door and laid down on his bed. Just as he opened his bag he passed out.

He had awoken in a room, there was a cherry red bike leaning against the wall. He walked over to it, it was the nicest bike he had ever seen in his life.

"You like that bike sport?" a voice said from behind him. Mark turned to see a man in a red suit standing behind him. "It's yours now, if you want it that is."

"Who are you?" Mark asked the man.

"Well my friends call me War." the man in red said.

"War? You mean like the horseman of the apocalypse?" Mark asked.

"Yep, the very one. And you are taking my place." War told him.

"Me? Why me?" Mark asked.

"Well, why not? Your a smart kid, you know right from wrong. Have you noticed people fighting whenever you walk in the room?"

"Yeah! My parents were just fighting!" Mark exclaimed.

"Part of the being War thing," War told him. "I can teach you how to control it if you want."

"Sure!" Mark said.

The rest of the night consisted of War teaching Mark how to control his new powers. When Mark was fully trained War looked at him one last time before he said, "Mark, I now grant you with the Ring of War, while wearing it you can just look at two or more people and they will instantly start fighting, that is, if you want them to fight. Remember what I have taught you Sport and you will do fine. Oh and one last thing, a 16 year old kid, named Johnny is going to arrive soon in a white Cadillac, he is your Horseman brother, you will go with him got it? You will help him fin your other brothers and stop the apocalypse," and with that the man in red named War vanished before Mark's eyes, and Mark blinked and was lying in his bed once more, holding his Doritos and Fritos.

* * *

Johnny had driven nonstop, no longer needing sleep he didn't bother stopping, and his new Cadillac didn't run on gas so he had no need to stop for gas. They did, of course, have to stop for food. So when they reached the town of Cambridge, Massachusetts they stopped at a small diner.

There were people, actual people there. The windows were boarded up, the door was bolted shut, and when they knocked on the door there came a voice. It said, "Are you sick, bitten, or in the company of an infected?"

Johnny cleared his throat and said, "We are not, we are just three teenagers who need some food."

There was a series of odd noises, which were the sounds of locks and bolts being undone, and then the door swung open. A big bulk of a man stood before them. He looked like he should be wearing a black t-shirt holding a velvet rope in front of a nightclub.

"Get in here quick," he ordered them.

They ended and all found a place to sit. A waitress walked up to them, she looked to be about 17, and she gave them all menus.

"Don't worry about prices, we don't need money anymore so just order anything you want," she said, she gave Johnny a flirtatious look, and walked away.

Johnny was staring after her when Jen smacked him.

"What?" He shouted, throwing his hands up, "I was just looking at the notepad in her back pocket."

"Yeah?" Jen asked with a look of annoyance on her face, "What did it say?"

Johnny thought for a moment and said, "Jennifer McCoy is the most amazing and forgiving girlfriend a guy could have?" He lied hopefully.

Jen gave him a long look, then finally, rolling her eyes, she forgave him, looking at her menu.

The waitress came back, the notepad from her back pocket now in her hand.

"What can I get ya?" she asked, pen at the ready.

They all ordered their meal and the waitress turned and walked away.

They all sat in silence, waiting for their food. There was a knock on the door and the bouncer behemoth asked if the person was infected, like he had with the teens. Finally he opened the door and a man in a trench coat walked in. He sat at the counter and ordered a beer.

The waitress, who's name tag was now visible as she had pulled her hair back into a ponytail, it read _Mary_, had arrived with their food. They sat there all ate in silence. Then something had come across Johnny's mind.

He leaned in to whisper with Natalie and Jen, "Hey, you notice how the bouncer guy doesn't check to see if you're bitten?" The girls nodded and he continued, "Well... what if someone had been bitten? He would never know."

As if on cue the man in the trench coat gave a loud cough, and seemed to transform. His skin turned a pale-ish green, and he seemed to look more rugged. He grabbed other waitress in the diner and bit her arm. She gave a deafening shriek, and the bouncer turned to see he had failed his duty. He ran over and grabbed the man, who turned and bit the bouncer too. He stumbled back and took out his glock and shot the infected man right in the head. The man fell, a huge hole where his right eye should be.

Just then the waitress turned and leaped at Mary, who shrieked and smacked the waitress with a frying pan. The waitress fell, but grabbed Mary's leg and bit. Mary screamed and the bouncer shot the waitress zombie, then took aim at Mary and shot, then put the gun to his own head and pulled the trigger.

The teenage trio sat in their booth, shocked at what had just happened in front of them. Slowly they got up and walked out of the diner, sick to their stomachs. They walked back to the Cadillac and got onto Main Street and headed across the bridge and headed into Boston.

They looked around, there was no one insight, no zombies, no survivors, and definitely no War. They pulled around a corner and saw a painted sign, it said: _Survivors come this way_ with and are pointing north. They followed the sign and found themselves at City Hall. They parked the car and walked up to the doors. Johnny rang the bell, and just then a trap door opened up bellow them. They fell into a dark pit and the door shut, stifling their screams of terror.

* * *

Johnny couldn't see a thing, his eyes weren't adjusting to the light at all. This was complete and total darkness. Luckily he didn't need light, he could sense and life form from a mile away. He sense a lot of life forms around them, he pulled out the flashlight he had brought with him from Wal-mart.

He flicked it on and was very upset to see he was surrounded by the undead.

"Holy mother of God," he breathed. He saw the girls huddled next to him. The light had alerted the undead to their presence, they stared at the three for several long minutes. No one moved, then Natalie sneezed and the infected attacked.

They were all about to scream when a circle of fire jumped up around them. And they heard and announcer exclaim, "As you can see the infected are more than happy to see dinner on their plate. Unfortunately we cannot let them eat until our feast introduces themselves! Tell us kids, what are your names?"

Johnny looked around, trying to find where the voice was coming from, then the announcer said, "Up here kid."

Johnny looked up to see a man in a gold jacket and aviator glasses with his hair slicked back.

"My name is Johnny, and you are?"

"They call me the Chef, because I know how cook up some good entertainment, and I know how to cook up a good snack for our little friends down there."

"Hmm, weird I thought the name, Dinner, sounds better for you." Johnny said.

"What in the world are you-" but before he could finish Johnny made the platform he was standing on collapse and the Chef fell to the ground. The infected saw a snack that wasn't surrounded by fire and instantly ran toward him.

Johnny grabbed the girls and tossed them up to the upper level using his new found Angelic strength. And then he himself leaped up onto the upper level. Just to be surrounded by people with guns. Johnny looked around, shocked, it looked like the whole city that wasn't infected was up here.

"Who the hell awe you?" A man said, you could tell he was a Boston man with his accent.

"Johnny, and I don't think you wanna shoot me," he told them all.

"Yeah? Why nuawt?" the Boston man asked.

"Because, I am Death, if you shoot me then I'll just make you be the ones to die."

The city folk all looked at each other, and laughed.

"Death he says!" someone shouted, howling with laughter.

"Prove it asshole!" another voice shouted.

Johnny looked at the Boston man in front of him. He snapped his fingers and the man stopped laughing and just collapsed. Everyone stopped laughing at once and stared at Johnny.

"Who are you?" A woman asked him.

"I am the Horseman Death, I am looking for either Pestilence, Famine, or War. Has anyone seen anyone with these powers?"

"I saw a kid with this like cherry red bike," an elderly man said, "Whenever a group of zombies would see him they would turn around and fight each other."

Natalie, who had grabbed a bible from the motel they were staying at, opened it up and looked in the Book of Revelation which explained the Horsemen's abilities, and said, "That sounds like War! He rode the red horse."

Johnny looked at the elderly man, "Where did you see the kid?"

"Over on Oak Road." He said, he gave a loud cough into his handkerchief. There as blood.

Johnny looked at the old man, and he said, "You know what man, you helped me out so let me try and do this." He focused on the man, thinking he could cure whatever illness he had.

Natalie stopped him, "Johnny," she said, "you can't do that, that would be a job for Pestilence."

Johnny looked at the old man, "Sorry... I won't let you live much longer than you should though, I don't want you to suffer."

"Thank you for trying at least," the old man said with a nod.

* * *

Johnny, Natalie and Jen left the hall and headed for Oak Road, hoping to find War. They drove around for ours but found nothing. Finally they pulled over, and parked, thinking maybe War will ride past them. Johnny switched on the radio, and ironically enough _Don't Fear the Reaper_ by Blue Oyster Cult was playing. They sat in silence listening to the soft singing when they heard a most particular noise. It sounded like a clarinet trying to be played, only it wasn't working out so well.

* * *

Mark sat up in his room trying to play his clarinet, he never really played it before, he had just gotten it for band, but then the whole end of the world thing happened. He stopped when he heard a car door slam. He looked out the window to see an old white Cadillac. Why did that seem familiar? Mark closed his eyes and recalled what War had told him, _Oh and one last thing, a 16 year old kid, named Johnny is going to arrive soon in a white Cadillac, he is your Horseman brother, you will go with him got it?_

Death found him! He never thought he would ever be excited to know that... He opened his door and ran down the stairs. He reached the foot just as the door opened, and three teenagers stood in the doorway.

* * *

Johnny was staring at a kid no older than 14. Could this be the kid he was looking for? He stepped forward and said, "War?"

The kid inclined his head, "Death?" he asked.

Johnny too inclined his head.

Mark walked down the last two stairs. He stuck out his hand, "Nice to meet you... brother," he said.

Johnny, although slightly caught off guard by Mark's maturity for his age, grasped his hand and shook. There was an odd spark, they both looked at each other, and then down at their hands.

"That was weird," Natalie said, breaking the silence.

"Mhm," Johnny and Mark said simultaneously.


	3. Famine

With the new addition to their family, Johnny, Natalie, Jen, and Mark sat up late in Mark's livingroom mapping out their route to the next Horseman. Mark and Johnny didn't need to sleep so they sat up later than the other two.

"Well," Johnny said looking at the map he had pulled up on his laptop, "the way I see it the closest Horseman to us is in Albany, New York."

"Yeah, all we gotta do is stay on Interstate 90, heading west." Mark said, tracing the yellow line that represented the highway they would have to take.

And with that they shut down the computer and woke the girls, they walked out to the car. Johnny turned the key and the engine roared. He set the car into reverse and backed out into the street, putting the car in drive he headed toward the highway.

They got up the ramp and onto the roadway, riding along smoothly, it was going to be a three hour ride, but Johnny didn't plan to go as slow as the speed limit told him to so it would be a shorter ride.

Johnny was speeding at a steady speed of 100mph, the highway was clear, no cars, no undead, just the open roadway. Until they got to the Mass/NY border. Johnny slammed on the brakes the car came to a complete stop just an inch behind a VW Buggy. Johnny looked at Mark and they were both thinking the same thing, _I just nearly pissed my pants_.

The stop was enough to wake the girls and they looked wide awake. There was a huge traffic jam trying to get into New York. Johnny looked out his window and saw a guy next to him. He rolled down his window and yell over to him, "Hey buddy!" the guy looked over at him, "What's goin' on here?"

"Haven't you heard?" The man said, he looked irritable and tired, "New York hasn't been hit by this virus!"

"Really?" Johnny asked.

"Yeah, only problem is, they won't let anyone through!"

"Dammit," Johnny swore, "Thanks, man." he said, rolling his window back up.

"So, what, we can't get into New York?" Jen asked.

"Seems that way." Johnny said.

"Don't be too sure my boy," a male voice said from behind him.

The girls turned toward the middle of them, they let out two screams.

Johnny looked in his rear view, "Jesus Christ!"

"No, not even close, son," Lou said with a wink.

"Lou! What the hell man!"

"Well you seem to be stuck, so I can tell you this, you can make a man do anything you want, you know what to do now yes?"

"Yeah I gue..." but before he could finish Lou was gone and it was just the four of them once again.

"So that was the infamous Lou huh?" Natalie said, clutching her chest.

Johnny nodded, and he looked at the man in front of the gate. He opened the door and walked up to him. The man held his rifle at the ready.

Johnny put his hands up, "Whoa buddy, I'm not gunna do anything! I just wanted to know if I could go through with my friends." he said gesturing toward the Cadillac.

The guard snorted, "What make you think I would let four teenagers in when I wouldn't let anyone else in?"

Johnny snapped his fingers, and the guard seemed to go into some kind of trace. Johnny looked at the man and said, "You are going to let us through, got it?"

The guard nodded and said in a spacey kinda way, "I am going to let you though."

Johnny walked back to the car and pulled up to the gate, it opened just long enough for him to pull through and then it shut again. He heard horns blaring and people yelling. He looked in his side mirror and saw the guy that help him out, he was being eaten by his wife, he was glad he didn't ask for everyone to go through.

Johnny look up and saw a sign that said, _Albany next right_.

_Almost there,_ he thought.

* * *

Katie Smith was a 19 year old girl who lived in Albany, NY. She was having a difficult time with her life right now, first she catches her bestfriend and her boyfriend making out in _her _bedroom then she finds out that while away on a business trip her father was bitten by some maniac. He was on his way home now, his plane would land in 5 minutes, her mother went to wait for him. It was 3 in the morning and she sat up late, typing up an economics paper, when the screen when black.

"No," she said, "no, no, NO, _NO!"_ he hit the enter button a million times, then tried to turn the computer back on, it wouldn't turn on. Then there came a voice, from right behind her.

"Katie," it wheezed. Katie turned to see and old man who looked like he hadn't eaten in years.

"Who are you?" She asked, frightened.

"To the world I am known as Famine," the old man said.

"You mean like... like the Apocalyptic Horseman?" Katie asked.

"Yes, the very one," Famine wheezed, "I am afraid I am no longer able to go on, and you have been chosen to be my replacement."

"M-me?" Katie asked, "why me?"

"Who knows, these things are chosen at random my dear girl. But all I know is you are to be my replacement. I can teach you all of my abilities, and you will help Death and War stop Pestilence."

"Wait wait wait, Death? War? Pestilence? What's going on! It can't be the end of the world!"

"But it is Katie," the old man snapped his arthritic fingers and the T.V turned on, showing Washington D.C, being over run by savage undead monsters. "And you must help stop it."

"I don't believe it," Katie said, feeling light headed and falling back into her chair.

"Believe girl, now we must train you so I may rest."

"I'm not gunna look... like you am I?" She asked.

"No, no. Not for another few millennium. And now we train!"

* * *

Johnny drove around and around, but there was no sign of anything to do with Famine or Pestilence. They were almost ready to give up when Mark and Johnny felt an odd pain in the back of their heads.

Johnny turned to Mark, "Did you feel that?"

Mark nodded, "I think I know where we need to go."

"Me too," Johnny said, he put the car back in gear and sped toward a house on Washington Ave. They pulled up to their destination, knowing they had reached the right place at once. There were locusts flying all over the house. They went to the door and rang the bell. The door seemed to open on it's own, they went inside and looked around. The girls stayed back in the car, but the two horsemen went inside to find Famine.

"Hello?" Johnny called, "Anyone home?"

Just then a cloud of locusts attacked the two boys. Mark screamed like a little girl and waved his hands around like a mad man and ran out of the house crying. Johnny on the other hand just snapped his fingers and the locusts fell, dead.

"Hey!" came a female voice from the room to Johnny's left. "What'd you do that for!"

Johnny turned to see who was talking to him, she was beautiful, you know, minus the locusts buzzing around her.

"Um, hi," Johnny said awkwardly, "I, uh, I am Johnny Larson, I'm... Death."

Sudden realization seemed to spread across the girl's face, "Oh!" she said, "Oh you're... you're the guy that Famine told me about!" She blushed, and stuck out her hand to shake. Johnny took her hand and shook.

"Listen we don't have much time before the whole world is overrun by undead creeps, we need to find Pestilence... and I know where we have to go. So, maybe you should just go on up and pack or whatever and meet us out at the car."

"Oh I already packed," the girl said, and with a snap of her fingers a cloud of locusts came swarming down the stairs with a suitcase.

"Oh, well, er, lets go then!" Johnny said awkwardly, he couldn't tell what it was about this girl but something about her made him feel awkward.

They headed out toward the bridge leading out of the city, where there was a flash of light, and a man was standing in the middle of the road. Johnny slammed on his brakes and he came to a stop mere inches from the man, who didn't even blink. They all got out of the car and Johnny walked up to the man.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing, man?" He shouted.

The man turned his head to look at Johnny, he said, "Do not shout Johnathan."

Johnny was surprised to hear his name come from a stranger. "How do you know my name?" He asked bewildered.

"Why Johnathan, I should you would recognize me, after all you met my former counter part and we have the same sense of fashion."

Johnny was completely clueless, former counter part, fashion. He didn't know anyone that wore clothes like that, except...

"You're God," Johnny said with sudden realization.

The man inclined his head. Everyone stared with awe at the creator of all that was around them.

"Listen," God said, "you cannot go to Pestilence."

"What?" Johnny asked, "Why?"

"Because it is a trap, set by Lucifer. He wants the four horsemen to be together so that he can take them out."

"But, he told me he wanted this apocalypse to end."

"And you believed him? So easily?" At this, Johnny blushed, he never once thought it may be a trap set by the devil himself.

"Why does he need us all together?" Katie asked.

"I am not sure, he is blocking me out so I cannot see what he is up to. All I know is, it is a trap. You must stay away from Dover, Delaware my boy." There was another flash, and he was gone.

"So what do we do now, Johnny?" Jen asked, a worried look on her face.

"We do as he said," Johnny said simply, "We stay away from Delaware."

And with that they all got back into the Cadillac and left New York, but not the way the had originally planned. They were headed for the opposite side of the country, they were going to L.A.


	4. Pestilence

Richie Illie was sitting in his apartment watching the news, apparently a virus was spreading across the U.S where people are eating each other. He was damn proud he had all his guns. He was a veteran, he severed a nerve in his back and could no longer walk, but that didn't mean he couldn't kick some zombie ass. He locked his door and set up a claymore, which would be triggered when the door is opened. He sat in his wheelchair, shotgun laid across his lap, when he suddenly felt exhausted. He closed his eyes and drifted off into a deep deep sleep.

He opened his eyes and found himself in a white room, lying on a white couch, wearing all white. He sat up and looked around, he was all alone. He swung his legs over the side of the couch and sat there, bewildered.

Then there was music, very catchy music, and Richie was tapping his hands on his lap and tapping his feet... tapping his feet? Richie looked down and saw that his foot was moving. Heart racing Richie stood up, stumbling forward after years of being on his rear end, he forgot what it felt like to be this high up.

"Enjoying yourself?" came a voice from behind him. Richie turned to see two men standing before him, one in an all white suit, the other had the same thing as him.

"Who are the hell you?" Richie demanded.

"Well," the first man said, "Call me Lou. This is my counter part, Pestilence."

Richie looked at the pair and snorted. "Get the hell outta my dream," he said and closed his eyes, thinking they would disappear, but when he opened his eyes they were still there.

"This isn't a dream, son," Lou said, and a grin spread across his face. "This... is a _nightmare_." And just then the man named Pestilence walked up to Richie and grabbed hold of him. For an older man he sure did have some grip.

"Hey," Richie exclaimed, "What the hell..." but before he could finish he felt a burning feeling in the back of his head. And then there was darkness.

* * *

Richie opened his eyes, only he was Richie, Pestilence had taken control of Richie's body. He got up out of his chair, dropping the shotgun, which hit the floor with a bang as it fired through the wall. Pestilence looked down at his new hands, and looked up at the mirror hanging on the front door, he looked good, he didn't break out in hives or zits like his old body.

_I guess Lucifer was true to his word_, he thought. He walked over to the balcony and shoved the doors open, he stepped out onto the porch and looked down on his creations, his army of the undead.

"Look at that," came a familiar voice. He turned to see Lucifer standing next to him, looking down at the horde of undead. "Listen, I need you to find the other three Horsemen for me, they are the only things that can stop me now. They are heading to L.A. Stop them and bring them to me in Las Vegas got it?"

Pestilence looked at Lucifer with a suspicious look on his face. "Why?" He asked, "so you can get rid of all of us at once?"

Lucifer looked at Pestilence with a calm expression on his face, "I told you, you are safe. I will not touch you as long as you do what I say until all that can stop me is finished."

Pestilence looked at Lucifer, "Alright," he said, "But I need a ride."

"Already taken care of," Lucifer gesturing below. Pestilence looked below him and saw a white 1960 Ford Thunderbird.

Pestilence went down the stairs and out the front door. He looked at the car, admiring it for several seconds before a man came running up to him.

"Richie!" he yelled, "Richie we gotta get the hell... wait a minute," he looked down at Pestilence's legs, "Richie... you can walk!"

"Yes," Pestilence said, "it's a miracle isn't it." He raised his hand and snapped his fingers, and the man writhed and cringed. He fell to his knees, and looked back up at Pestilence, his eyes were evil, dead looking. Pestilence smiled and got into his car, started the engine and pulling out of the parking spot on the side of the road. Thanks to Lucifer he know exactly where he could intercept the other Horsemen.

* * *

The three horsemen and their friends were riding along Interstate 64 in Kentucky, heading west toward the pacific coast. They had driven nonstop for 5 days. Johnny was worried because he knew Lucifer was watching, he also knew that he would stop at nothing to get them all together so he could eliminate them.

It was close to midnight and Johnny didn't feel tired, he no longer felt fatigue, and neither did the other Horsemen. The good thing about this Cadillac was that it literally had more room than it looked like it should have, it was the size of an average livingroom now that there were so many people in it. They had set up sleeping bags and couches for everyone. The girls were currently asleep and Mark sat up reading the Bible. "Now that I know its all real I have 14 years of praying to catch up on," he had told Johnny. Katie was sitting in the passenger seat next to Johnny, they were currently talking about what they would do when they got to L.A.

"I'm just saying," Katie whispered, trying not to wake up the girls, "once we get there there are gunna be a lot of undead. Think about it, one of the most populated cities in America."

"Yeah, I know," Johnny said, "but I mean, with our powers we could wipe out the whole city within a matter of days."

Katie looked like she wanted to argue, but knew there was no point. She knew it was true.

She sighed and looked out the window, not wanting to start up another argument. Johnny looked at her, he couldn't quite place a finger on it but something about her made him feel weird... before he could even think more into the subject Katie looked up, and she said, "Johnny, look."

He looked and saw someone leaning on an old Ford Taurus, smoking a cigarette. He pulled alongside the car and called out, "Hey buddy," the man looked up, "You need some help?"

"Uh well, nothin' is gunna help," the guy told him, "the whole car is crap," he kicked the Taurus and the bumper popped off and the car collapsed, steaming. "Dammit!" he cursed.

"Well where you headed?" Johnny asked him.

"Vegas," the man said, rubbing his chin.

"We're headed in that general direction you need a lift?"

"You would give a stranger a ride?" the man asked.

"As long as this stranger hasn't been bitten," Johnny told him.

"Well then I guess its my lucky day," the man said with a smile, "I never lived in a very populated area so I had no problems with these undead things."

"Well just grab your stuff and climb in the back."

When the man turned to grab his stuff he snapped his fingers and the back of the car shrunk back down, leaving enough room in the trunk for the new guy. The guy climbed in the trunk. And Johnny put the car back in gear and drove down the road.

"So," Johnny said, looking at the guy in the rearview mirror. "What's your name, friend?"

"Richie," the man said. "Richie Illie"

* * *

The three Horsemen, and against their knowledge there was a fourth, were on Interstate 15 going across the Utah/Arizona border, 30 miles from the Arizona/Nevada border. Vegas was only an hour and forty-five minutes away, Richie had told them all about himself and his old family.

"Wow," Katie said admirably, "you are such a saint."

_Haha not exactly sweetheart, _He thought to himself grimly.

They finally got close to Vegas when Johnny thought of something. A random stranger on the side of one of the most random place to find a survivor. And his car just so happens to carry him hundreds of miles and then decides to fall apart when people show up? He just so happens to be going the same general direction as them, and he's going to Sin City of all places. Something didn't seem right.

He looked in the rearview and looked into Richie's eyes. They were blue, nothing strange there. Then he turned his attention to something else, Richie had just magically gotten a pimple on his forehead, that wasn't there before. Unfortunately before he could look more into it there was a scream. It came from Natalie, Johnny looked ahead of him and saw a swarm of undead. This time they all screamed, though Johnny had time to notice that Richie didn't look to scared, as though he knew he wasn't gunna die.

"Johnny!" Mark yelled. "Johnny do your thing!"

Johnny looked at him and jerked his head at Richie.

"Oh, don't worry about me Death, I know all about you and your powers," Richie said with a devious smirk. They all looked at him wide eyed. Johnny snapped his fingers and the swarm of undead all dropped dead... again. After that he slammed on the breaks.

"How the hell," he started but his question was answered for him when there was a tap at his window. He turned his head to see Lou standing there, smiling his evil smile.

"Hey there kiddo," he said and they were surrounded by darkness.


	5. The Devil's Trap

Johnny woke up nailed to, ironically enough, a cross. He squinted up at the light, he was outside. From the look of it he was on top of Bellagio. He looked around, he couldn't see the others.

"Hey there, Death," Johnny heard from his left. He turned to see Lou standing in midair next to his cross.

"Hey, what do you think your doing!" Johnny exclaimed.

"Why, dear Johnny," Lou said, "I cannot keep you four around to foil my plans, silly boy."

Just then Richie's voice came from Johnny's right.

"Four?" he said. "What do you mean four!"

"For the ritual to work all four Horsemen must be sacrificed. Sorry, son." Lou said, snapping his fingers and Richie was flung across the road to Caesar's palace, where a cross was waiting for him.

"So, what," Johnny said, "you plan on killing us?"

Lucifer chuckled, "I won't just kill you," he said, "I am going to siphon your powers out of you."

"Si-siphon?" Johnny stammered.

"Y-y-y-yes, did I st-st-st-st-st-stutter?" Satan taunted.

"I won't let you!" Johnny shouted.

"Oh, well then I guess I can't go on with my plans... oh wait, that's right, YOU ARE NOT IN THE POSITION TO BE GIVING ORDERS!" Lucifer swung a punch at Johnny, it seemed to have made contact. Lucifer disappeared, and Johnny looked up. He didn't feel a thing, and Lou didn't know that. Johnny looked around, very distinctly he could see the other horsemen. He saw Mark on the top of the Eiffel Tower, and Katie on top of the Hilton, both of them were unconscious.

Johnny looked around at Pestilence, he was struggling to get free.

_It's not gunna work pal,_ he thought to himself, but there came another voice in his head.

_Shut it kid,_ it was Richie's voice.

_What the hell, how are we able to do this? _He asked.

_We're connected you idiot, you can't tell me you've been with these people for weeks and haven't talked to them telepathically._

_ Well excuse me, but I never had a reason to talk to the other two in private!_

_ Listen, _Pestilence tried to calm himself, _we won't live long if all we do is argue._

_ Agreed, you got a plan?_

_ Yeah, but it involves your two friends, you know, the two mortals._

Johnny had completely forgotten about Natalie and Jen, _Where are they?_

_ New York, _Pestilence told him and an image of New York City appeared in his head, only this NYC was kind of bunched together, then he realized Pestilence meant a casino here in Vegas.

_How are we gunna get them out?_

_ That's the thing... in order to get them out I need to turn them into the undead._

Instantly Johnny wanted to tell him no, but he knew this was the only way.

_Fine, but you have to turn them back after!_

_ It doesn't work that way, I can't just turn them back to human. But think about it this way, its them, or us. And if its us then we take the world down with us, because once we're gone Lucifer will have nothing to stop to stop him from making Earth his new kingdom. And God won't be able to do a single thing._

Johnny knew that this was true, and if a few good people had to go down to fight Lucifer... well then they will have to.

_Alright_, he said finally, _do it._

There was a few minutes pause, and then he could hear something from below him. Then Jen and Natalie came barging through the door, their eyes filled with hate and death. The sight of them made Johnny feel uneasy. They walked over and began to untie him. He fell to the floor with a thud, he got up and looked over at the girls, they had the same cannibalistic look in their eyes as the other undead did, but they didn't attack him.

_Alright now get your ass in gear and untie us! _Pestilence instructed.

Johnny did as he was told, turning from the girls he ran for the stairs. Down one flight, and another, and another, and yet another. What felt like a million flights later he finally made it to the ground floor and he was just about to run outside when he felt something out there that didn't feel right. He stopped at the door and looked out, he saw men with guns patrolling the streets.

_Dammit,_ he cursed in his head.

_What's wrong? _Came Pestilence's voice.

_There are men out there with guns._

_ Oh crap. Those aren't men, those are demons._

_ Demons? So will my powers work on them?_

_ Yeah but it'll take a lot outta ya. Stick to the shadows. Your death, for God's sake, you should be able to sneak around out there._

Johnny looked around out there, there were undead along with demons. He ran into a bathroom, and looked in the mirror. It took sometime but he managed to make his eyes look like the undead's.

_Pestilence, _he thought, _can you keep the undead off my ass? I have a plan._

_ Sure thing. _Came Pestilence's voice again.

Johnny put on a fake limp and walked out the door, two years of going to drama was finally gunna pay off. He limped across the street, throwing in a moan every now and then. He finally made it across the road and into an alley where there was an open door. He got in and sped through the building, luckily the demons weren't smart enough to put men inside the buildings. So he ran up the stairs, not growing tired a bit.

He reached the roof and jumped across to the Eiffel Tower and started to climb.

_Don't look down, don't look down, _he repeated to himself over and over as he climbed. He was deathly afraid of heights, but he kept climbing nevertheless. He finally got to the top without being noticed, and he looked up at Mark, he was still out like a light. He smacked him, nothing happened.

"Get up man," he mumbled, smacking him again. "Get _up_."

Mark's eyelids twitched, "No mom, I don't wanna go, I forgot my pants."

Johnny sighed, "GET UP!" he yelled, punching him in the gut.

Mark jolted awake, "Ow!" he yelled, "what'd you do-"

"_shh!"_ Johnny snapped.

"What did you do that for?" Mark whispered.

_You weren't waking up,_ Mark said, telepathically.

_Whoa I can hear you in my head!_ Mark thought excitedly.

_Yeah, yeah. Come on we gotta get down from here before I get sick._

They climbed back down to the roof of the building and Johnny looked at Mark.

_Okay, _Johnny said,_ I'm gunna make your eyes look like the undead's then we are gunna go get Katie._

Mark nodded in agreement.

They ran to the door, but when they opened it they found a demon on the other side.

"What the hell!" he shouted. Johnny and Mark looked at each other, they grabbed him and threw him over the side of the stairs, if falling 25 stories didn't kill him they didn't know what would.

They ran down the stairs, skipping every other one. They got to the ground floor and found the demon on the ground, dead. He kinda looked like a fly on a windshield.

"That's yummy," Mark said sarcastically.

They ran to the door, stopped, and got ready to put on their zombie routine. The stumbled outside, and limped across to the Hilton. They're hearts were racing they were sweating bullets, worried the demons would see past their disguises and attack.

They got across and got through the door into the Hilton, instead of taking they stairs the summoned the elevator. They got in when it opened and rode it up to the top.

On the way, Johnny explained the whole, telepathy thing. Mark was amazed.

"That is so cool!" He exclaimed.

"Yeah," Johnny agreed.

"So, Richie is really the Pestilence before him?"

"Yep, I guess he and Lucifer had an agreement and good old Lou went against it."

"Whatta dick!" Mark said.

"Yeah, I guess. But if it weren't for that we may have never gotten away."

"That's true. It's too bad about the girls," he added sadly.

"Yeah," Johnny sighed.

The elevator "ding"ed and they stepped out into the light. They ran over to Katie, she was already starting to come to, so they untied her and dragged her to the elevator. Setting her down on the floor. She looked up at them, dazed.

"What's going on?" she asked dreamily.

"We are getting the hell out of here," Johnny told her.

They got to the ground floor to find the demons running all over the place. After changing Katie's eyes they limped outside and heard a mess of noise.

"How could we lose two of the Horsemen!"

"Search every nook and cranny, we have to find these sons of bitches before the boss gets back!"

"Guard the last Horseman with your lives! Don't even let the undead into the building!"

_Dammit! _Johnny swore.

_What do we do? _Mark asked.

_Hmm, _Johnny thought for a minute.

_No! _Katie exclaimed. The two boys looked at her. _You're thinking about being a decoy!_

_ Heh, I forgot you guys could see and hear what I'm thinking. But it's the only way!_

_ Johnny's right, _Pestilence piped up, _It's the only way we can all safely get out of here._

_ And why should we even bother saving you? _Katie argued, _You're the one who got us into this mess!_

_ Your right, _Pestilence said, _you have no need to save me. I have been nothing but a burden. I have every right to die. But I'll tell you now, as long as he has me Lucifer will be able to find you._

_ Enough! _Johnny shouted, _Listen, none of us are being left behind, we will leave here, and we will kill Lucifer and send him back to hell, got it!_

Katie looked defiant but she didn't argue and more.

_Now listen, _Johnny said to War and Famine, _I am going to run out of here and get everyone's attention, you guys get over to that building after they go okay?_

_ Yes, _they both agreed.

Johnny sighed, he shoved the door open and snuck out, purposely kicking a trash can on his way out so that it would fall and make a loud bang.

"What was that?" they heard a demon say.

"Son of a bitch look!" they heard another say.

"Hey it's Death!" the first voice said. "Get him!"

Johnny ran off and the opposite direction of Pestilence. Demons on his tail.

Mark and Katie made their way to Caesar's Palace. They looked in, there were four demons. Katie looked at Mark and jerked her head toward them. Mark nodded, knowing what she meant. And he snapped his fingers. The Demons seemed to have been put under a spell. They all turned to each other, and started firing, killing each other.

Mark and Katie opened the door and snuck in. the started up the stairs, they managed to get to the roof when they saw two demons standing guard.

_My turn, _Katie said, and with a snap of her fingers the two men were swarmed by locusts.

"Son of a _bitch!_" they screams swinging their hands around like mad men. They both ran down stairs, tripping on their way down and snapping their necks on the way down.

"Nice work," Mark said.

"Thanks, now lets get this son of a bitch so we can get out of here."

They opened the door and ran out onto the roof. Pestilence was hanging on his cross, whistling Ring Around the Rosy.

"Really?" Katie asked.

"What?" Pestilence asked innocently.

Katie rolled her eyes and untied Pestilence's bonds.

"Thanks, darlin'," he said with a wink. "Now lets get out of here."

Johnny ran and ran, but he couldn't shake the demons. They just kept coming, he had the feeling they weren't affected by fatigue either.

"Get back here fool!" he heard from behind him.

Johnny had time to look back at his pursuers before he was covered by a think net.

The Demons walked over to him.

"Ha!" one shouted. "He's not so tough."

Johnny was brought back to Vegas, but he knew the others were long gone, and he was glad, because the second part of his plan, that he had successfully kept from the others, needed them to be far, far away. He was bound and thrown onto the ground in the middle of the four casinos the crosses sat on. There was a flash, and Lucifer was standing over him.

"Hey there kiddo," he said with an evil grin on his face. "You look to be in quite a _bind_,"

Johnny rolled his eyes, "Great joke," he said, "did you think of that all on your own or were you down in hell with Hitler and Hussein thinking of funny puns to throw at me?"

Lucifer chuckled, a demonic noise emitting from his throat. "You're a funny young man, you know that?"

There was a yell from the entrance of Caesar's Palace, and another from the top of the Hilton.

"And there's the punch line," Johnny said with a grin.

Lucifer's grin faded, he got up and with a flash he disappeared. Several seconds passed before a second flash and Johnny feeling himself being hoisted into the air.

"Where are the others!" He shouted, his eye glowing red.

Johnny spat in his face.

"BAH!" he threw Johnny across the street, Johnny's bounds came loose and Johnny closed his eyes.

_Guys, _he called out to his fellow Horsemen, _This is good bye. Keep a look out for the next death will you?_

He felt confusion come from Mark and Katie, but Pestilence said, _Of course, kid. So long._

Johnny felt a tear start to form, and he stood up. Lucifer looked at him.

"You ready to talk?" He snapped.

"That depends," he said with a shrug, "You ready for an eternity of damnation?" and he dropped the ropes and snapped his fingers.

"What? NO!" Lucifer shrieked, but before he could disappear there was a flash, and a great boom.

Pestilence had his Firebird waiting outside of Vegas and they were already crossing into Utah when he looked into the rearview mirror and saw a mushroom cloud forming from where Vegas was. Katie must have seen it too, because she let out a soft sob. She put her head in her hands and cried softly. Mark looked on the verge of tears too, but he didn't cry, he had been through too much to cry now.

Pestilence on the other hand had smiled.

"What the hell are you smiling about?" Katie snapped at him.

Pestilence took no offense from the outburst, he looked at her and he said, "It's over."

That was all he said before he fainted and the car came to a stop. Kate and Mark looked at him, shocked.

"What just happened?" Katie asked, a shocked look on his face.

Just then Pestilence jolted back into life.

"Holy mother of God!" he yelled.

"Pestilence?" Mark asked, "Are you okay?"

Pestilence looked at Mark, "Pestilence isn't here anymore, I'm Richie."

"What do you mean 'he isn't here anymore'?" Katie asked.

"He told me his work here was done, and he left my body," Richie explained.

"So," Mark said, "It's over now? No more Apocalypse?"

"Well, that's not true. Pestilence told me I couldn't change the undead back into people... so until they all die off we won't have earth the way it should be for a long while."

"Well," Katie said, "I guess we should just, drive then, right? I mean there's nothing for us to do so I guess we just go?"

There was a flash and suddenly Mark wasn't alone in the back of the car, for a second they thought Lucifer had survived and was ready to strike back, but who sat there wasn't evil, it was God.

"You aren't done yet," he told them. They all turned to look at him. "You have to find the new Death, there are still demons out there who will want to use him for their own personal gain."

"Well, where is he?" Richie asked. And just as he said it he knew the answer instantly. They all looked at each other and knew where they were going.

There was a flash and God was gone. Richie put the car back in gear, and started driving. They were heading back across the U.S. They were going to Washington D.C where the next Death was already being trained by Johnny, who had this last job to do before he could move on to the other side of the light.

**The End. (For now anyways)**


End file.
